About this journey

Bahnhof Altstetten station, on the western edge of Zürich, carries a long railway history: the Swiss Northern Railway built it in 1847 as part of the pioneering line from Zürich to Baden, making it one of the first railway stations in Switzerland. That original line evolved into today's Zürich to Olten main line, and Altstetten grew into a junction in 1864 when the route to Zug via Affoltern am Albis opened. This journey, however, departs from a newer set of platforms across the station plaza, where the Limmattal light rail line — route 20, operated by AVA — has terminated since December 2022.

The line runs westward through the Limmat Valley, connecting first to the Zürich tram network at Farbhof before continuing out of the city. The ride follows the valley toward the canton of Aargau, where Killwangen-Spreitenbach station serves both the municipality of Killwangen and the neighbouring municipality of Spreitenbach. The station sits just east of the point where the newer Heitersberg Tunnel route diverges from the original main line via Baden, placing it at a quiet but telling convergence of old and new infrastructure. The journey moves from one of Switzerland's earliest railway nodes to a modern light rail terminus at the edge of the Limmat Valley.